In commercial aircraft, connection to onboard systems and components may be necessary, and in particular, cables may need to be deployed to passenger seats to allow access to the onboard systems by passengers within the aircraft. For example, connection to onboard entertainment systems for use by passengers to listen to preprogrammed music or to provide audio to accompany onboard movies may be provided. Further, use of telephones onboard the aircraft, which are installed in seatbacks for use by passengers, may also require connection to systems onboard the aircraft.
It is also becoming more common for passengers to use portable electronic devices while onboard the aircraft, including, for example, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and laptop computers. For example, a passenger may access real time information or the Internet using onboard services, such as, for example, the Connexion By BoeingsSM communication service, which provides transmission of data via wired and/or wireless means onboard an aircraft using a satellite communication network.
In order to communicate information throughout an aircraft cabin to thereby provide services onboard the aircraft, appropriate cables and wiring must be provided throughout the aircraft and typically to passenger seats to allow passengers to access the information. In particular, cables and wiring are deployed throughout the main passenger cabin underneath the main aircraft floor panel and through access points within the aircraft. Further, cables provided above the aircraft floor panel (i.e., main cabin floor) are deployed to seats, usually through the conduit of seat track mounting provided throughout the cabin used to mount seats thereon.
Specifically, access points for use in connection with main cables (i.e., loop cables) are provided in the main cabin for accessing these cables to deploy secondary cables therefrom throughout the main cabin (i.e., through the seat track) to seats within the main cabin. Typically, a large access box is provided for use in accessing cables for deployment throughout a large portion of the main cabin. However, a large access box often results in confusion in wiring, such as large number of cables emanating from a single box, and also makes it difficult to troubleshoot when there is a wiring or cable problem in the aircraft. Further, because a larger section of the aircraft must be modified to install these large access boxes, additional inspection certification may be required for such modification. Additionally, depending upon the location of the access box within the aircraft, the tooling necessary for providing such a large access hole may not be available.
Thus, there exists a need for an improved access box and method of deploying cables throughout the main cabin of a passenger aircraft that requires less severe modification to the structure of the aircraft (i.e., no recertification necessary) and simplifies deployment of cables throughout the cabin.